Darcy settled back into the corner where all three ladies could have both a good view of him, and an easy swing with their fans or whatever other weapon came to hand if necessary, then sighed and began.

"You wish to know of the four horsewomen. Well, first off, I must admit that I may be mad, because I sometimes see visions of people I have known as clearly as if they were standing right in front of me. Perhaps it is a vision, or more likely it is just memory playing a trick, because they usually just repeat something that they said to me in life."

Jane sat forward slowly, looked at him carefully, and said, "That happens to me, Mr. Darcy. Not often, but for example whenever I read a letter from Lizzy, I see her and hear her voice reading. I also have visions of my aunt or my grandmother from time to time."

Mary added, "For me, 'tis my 'da, or me brother as died five year ago, but I see the same things."

Darcy looked at Anne, who replied, "I always thought I might be mad, so never mentioned it."

Darcy curiously asked, "Who do you see, Anne. I see my mother, and please do not take this amiss, but I hope you do not repeat that habit."

Anne laughed a bit and said, "No, not either of my parents. I saw entirely too much of their advice in the waking hours. I see…"

She looked carefully at Darcy, and said, "Mostly I see Aunt and Uncle Darcy," at which point she blushed furiously, as if she were stealing something precious from her cousin.

Darcy laughed a bit, and said, "Please discard that morose look, Anne. I mostly see my mother or Aunt Matlock. You could make a very compelling argument that my mother came to you because she found me to be a hopeless case."

Everyone laughed about that a bit.

Jane said, "People do not talk about this sort of thing Mr. Darcy, mostly because they think others will think them daft. I assume nobody will ever mention this outside of this carriage."

Everyone nodded agreement, so Jane continued, "I know my sister Lizzy sees such things when she is distressed, and probably other times I do not know about. It has happened seldom, but there have been cases where she thought there were three or four people all yelling at her at once. It is most disconcerting."

Darcy asked, "Have you witnessed this? Can you tell when it is happening?"

Jane looked at him, wondering what he might have done to light up Lizzy's ghosts, and said, "I saw it once, but I shall not describe the scene. Her eyes lose focus and start staring at where all her visions are talking instead of the person she is talking to."

Jane watched Darcy carefully, and smiled faintly when she saw him nod in some remembered agreement.

Darcy blew out a breath, and said, "That happens to me as well. My mother used to give me good advice quite regularly, but as I got older and frankly less sensible, she appeared less often. I had not seen her for years until…"

Jane jumped ahead in her seat and said quite enthusiastically, "You saw her standing between Mary and I, didn't you?"

Darcy smiled at the memory, nodded, and said, "Yes, Miss Bennet, I did. It was wonderful and sad at the same time. It struck me that you two could pass for sisters."

Anne exclaimed, "Yes! I never put it together, but perhaps that is why we bonded so quickly, Janie."

Jane said, "Does that…"

Anne slapped Jane's knee quite forcefully, and said, "Do not finish that sentence. I am friends with you, not my favorite person in the world before you. The fact that you look like her is either coincidence or the fate my cousin was talking about."

Jane smiled in happiness, and said, "Well then, Mr. Darcy. If I am to be the new vision of your mother, perhaps you should tell me the words she tried to pound into your head. With my able assistants, perhaps I can make a dent."

Darcy laughed, and wondered how so much laughter and so much heartache could exist in his breast at the same time, but replied, "I shall tell you the exact words she said there beside the fallen log."

He prepared himself, pitched his voice slightly higher for effect and repeated Lady Anne Darcy's long‑ago words.

≈ One of these days, my Son, one of these days, some woman is going to pull you off that high horse of yours. Your father has taught you to be overly proud of the Darcy name, and the Fitzwilliams are not known for piety or good sense either. I am afraid if you do not mend your ways, you will have a reckoning someday. Listen well and mark my words my son! It may take three or four women to do it, but some day, if you do not change your ways, you will rue your excessive pride. Continue as you are going now, you will wind up like my sister Catherine, wallowing in your own consequence, and just as unhappy. I only hope whoever brings about your reckoning will be able to see my real son before 'tis too late. ≈

All three of the women were staring at him with their mouths open, so Darcy continued in his own voice.

"So, you see, Miss Taylor, Miss Bennet, Anne… it was fate. My mother spent all those years counseling Anne, while waiting for my heart and my mind to accept her word, and then naturally came to see me at the exact moment when I could identify the four horsewomen."

Nobody spoke for a moment, and finally Mary said, "You seem to be one horsewoman short, Mr. Darcy."

He just chuckled, and said, "Yes… she is apparently touring the Northern Country with her new friends. She may very well pull me all the way from my high horse to my grave."

Jane had previously leaned back into the squabs, so she leaned back ahead and took Mr. Darcy's hands again, wondering when her Aunt's vision would come back to chastise her about her complete and utter lack of propriety, or her mother's ghost would appear to egg her on to greater and greater feats of daring do since she was about an inch short of a compromise.

When she had hold of his hands, she said, "Why did she leave, Mr. Darcy? What did you say to her?"

Darcy stared down at their clasped hands, and said, "I am afraid Miss Bennet, that I made the worst proposal in the history of the English language, and then I told her that I admired her and loved her; and asked for her hand in marriage, after having insulted her abominably."

Jane gasped, and then a slow smile crept across her face. She paused a moment, then asked, "And how did she react?"

Darcy looked at her intently, and said, "She… well… now that you mention it…"

"Yes, Mr. Darcy. Remember her exact words and her exact manner. It may be important."

Darcy chuckled, but there was little humor in it, and said, "The words are easy enough. She did not say a word. Not… One… Word. Then she walked out of the parlor, put on her bonnet, picked up her reticle and pelisse, ran all the way to Hunsford Village and got on the first coach."

Jane gasped, but it was not in surprise. It was a sudden realization that everything now made perfect sense. She looked at the gentleman, and said, "Go on. That is not all."

Darcy said, "I did not piece it together until you mentioned her ghosts. For what seemed like several hours, but was probably a minute or two, she stared fixedly at a space about five feet to my left and gasped several times."

Jane nodded, and said, "Probably too many ghosts… It is odd though… very odd… completely unexpected."

Darcy squeezed her hands that were still held in his, and said, "What is odd, Miss Bennet?"

Jane had to shake her head to clear it before continuing.

"She must have had several ghosts advising her, and it seems almost certain that some of them were counseling her to just accept a life of ease and luxury and another chance to protect her family. She obviously eventually picked one and took their advice, but she took it from the very last person in the world I would have expected."

Looking confused, Darcy asked, "Who would that be?"

"Our mother."

Looking doubly confused, as if the concept of anyone taking advice from Mrs. Bennet was too much to comprehend, and then stammered, "Mrs. Bennet?"

Jane nodded, still deep in thought.

Darcy asked curiously, "How could you possibly know that, Miss Bennet?"

Jane replied casually, "The advice she followed, Mr. Darcy. What an odd thing. She followed Mother's advice. Who would have thought… our mother!"

Darcy asked, "Could you be more specific Miss Bennet?"

Jane saw his confusion and replied, "Very well, Mr. Darcy. This is important for you to understand. For as long as I can remember, my mother has been trying to 'correct' Lizzy's deportment. I have no idea why Lizzy is my mother's least favorite child, but it is so. There have been many different, often contradictory, bouts of advice, but the most common one is some flavor of this."

As Darcy had before her, Jane sat up straight, raised her voice to a screech and became her mother.

≈ If you cannot say something nice, say nothing at all! ≈

Everyone sat looking at Jane, so she said, "My mother had a dozen variants of that."

≈ If you cannot be pleasant, at least be silent! ≈
≈ A true lady is polite and demure under all provocations! ≈
≈ A lady does not raise her voice, nor say unkind or impertinent things! ≈

Jane sighed, and added, "Lizzy was a bit impertinent, but mostly she is very intelligent and not willing to spend all day nattering about nothing, or listen to absolute nonsense without challenge, nor is she willing to appear to be stupid just to attract a man and makes no bones about it. All this quite vexes my mother."

Everyone paused for a moment, before Jane continued, "She probably pushed Lizzy over the top with her all‑time favorite."

≈ Well, Miss Lizzy Bennet! If you cannot say something nice, say nothing at all and take yourself elsewhere until you learn to keep a civil tongue in your head! ≈

Jane stared at her hands, and said, "It sounds like Lizzy must have latched on to that one."

Darcy's mouth was left hanging open for a moment, while Jane glanced back up and openly stared at him waiting to let the gentleman put two and two together, and hoping he came up with four.

He finally said, "She left to avoid saying something not nice?"

"Exactly."

Darcy looked at her in consternation, and asked sheepishly asked, "How, not nice?"

Jane looked pained, and said, "Unless her feelings changed significantly from the time the Colonel boasted about your skill at pulling Mr. Spineless Worm away from me… which was less than four hours… I would hazard to guess we are contemplating VERY-VERY NOT NICE!"

Darcy hung his head, and Jane wondered if he was going to revert to crying again.

He took a deep breath, and said, "I imagine I should answer your first two questions then, Miss Bennet."

"You may as well."

"There is nothing wrong with your family our you, Miss Bennet. NOT A SINGLE THING! The fault is entirely mine. As my mother warned me, I filled myself with pride over my wealth, my position, my history, my family and my perceived superiority of mind… all of it complete nonsense when compared to your sister. In answer to your question number two, I convinced Bingley that you did not hold him in particular regard just because I listened to your mother boast about 'capturing' him loudly and publicly, then watched you for a few hours and saw no sign in particular regard in your eyes… as if any proper lady would let another man see that."

Darcy sighed.

Jane said, "Mr. Darcy, it was arrogance and presumption to guide Mr. Bingley thus, but he is a man grown, and he made his own choices. I am now quite convinced that I am better off without him."

Darcy leaned forward and looked directly at her, and said, "The fact that it all worked out in the end does not mitigate the presumption and heartlessness of the act. I could have told him to abandon you but insist he come take his leave and do it like a man. No, Miss Bennet, your lack of censure does not mitigate the wrongdoing. I just do not believe it."

Jane gently asked, "What do you believe, Mr. Darcy?"

"I now firmly believe that my arrogance, my conceit, and my selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events built so immovable a dislike for me in your sister. If she looked at me with implacable resentment and disgust, it would show nothing but good sense. She never desired my good opinion, and I certainly bestowed it most unwillingly."

He sighed again, and then continued, "Miss Bennet, I perfectly comprehend that Miss Elizabeth is probably lost to me, or at the very least, frightfully angry and probably afraid. She is just hiding in the North to gain her age of majority so she can say what must be said without fear of being forced into marriage."

With that admission, even Anne did not have the heart to say anything. Nobody could think of anything to alleviate his misery for quite some time.

After a good several minutes, Mary timidly asked, "Might'n I ask a question, Mr. Darcy?"

"Of course, Miss Taylor. You can ask any question of me at any time, for the rest of our natural lives."

Mary blushed a bit, and said, "All'a those things as-you says about Fate. Do you believe them? Am I to meet your Mr. Breton based on fate when you seems to have nary a hope for it yer-own-self?"

Darcy looked at her quizzically, so Mary continued.

"Listen to yer dear Mother, sir. You're just in despair acause you only have three of your horsewomen. You're not defeated… you're giving up."

Surprisingly, Jane laughed uproariously for a minute. Everyone else joined in just because they had no idea what else to do.

Finally, Jane said, "What was it you said, Mr. Darcy? 'I am hoping the horsewomen signal redemption and renewal.' Are you so certain you are beyond redemption?"

Mary, not to be outdone, reached across and grabbed his hands that were already holding Jane's and said, "Are you to give up at the first obstacle, Mr. Darcy?"

Feeling much better, Darcy laughed and replied, "Only if that first obstacle happens to be my last breath."

Jane laughed, released his hands and leaned back into the squabs, saying, "Much better, Mr. Darcy… Much‑much better. I was not finding the hangdog whiney defeated Darcy very much to my taste, nor do I think my sister would think much of him. Prepare yourself, Sir. You have some courting to do."

Darcy looked surprised, and said, "Do you know where Miss Elizabeth is?"

Jane leaned forward and said, "Annie, rap this knucklehead a few times, please."

Anne just laughed, and said, "Consider it done."

"I fear that you have a very narrow‑minded idea of courting, Mr. Darcy. Your -what did you call it- 'selfish disdain' I believe, has offended nearly everyone Lizzy loves and respects for a ten‑mile circle. If you want her love and respect, you need to court the good opinion of those of us that can convey that to her. It is either that or go North and ride around randomly looking for her."

Darcy stared at her for a few seconds, then a slow smile spread across his face before he replied.

"Miss Bennet… Miss Mary… Anne… Your words have taught me to hope, as I had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before. I now know enough of your disposition to be certain that, had you thought your sister absolutely, irrevocably decided against me, you would now acknowledge it to me and send me packing with my tail between my legs."

Jane laughed a bit, then sat back forward and looked at him intently, before saying "I can promise you nothing, Mr. Darcy, save my every effort to allow you to make a less abominable proposal."

"I shall follow your council to the letter, Miss Bennet."

Jane slid forward again and captured his eyes, and said, "As for the other questions, Mr. Darcy. No more spineless worms! I find them distasteful. I have no idea whether I should severely chastise you for interfering in my courtship which was none of your business; or kiss you for pulling an inconstant man from me. In future, I would appreciate it if you let me make my own mistakes."

Darcy gulped, and simply nodded.

Jane smiled brightly, and said, "Cheer up, Mr. Darcy. Three of your horsewomen are on task… Oh, and one other thing you said was in error. Yours was not really the worst proposal in the history of the English Language. In fact, it was only the second worst proposal Lizzy received in the last half‑year. I believe Mr. Collins' proposal to Lizzy was worse, -and this is important- my mother tried with every tool at her disposal to force Elizabeth's acquiescence. Perhaps you will give my sister some clemency for running from you."

Darcy was shaking his head trying to order his scattered thoughts, from the absolute horror of the idea of any man, let alone Mr. Collins, being wed to his Elizabeth; to a final reckoning of just how much worse his error was than even he had believed.

He finally said, "I do not blame her from running from me, Miss Bennet. The fault was entirely mine, and so must the remedy be."

"No, no, no, no, no - Mr. Darcy. While I applaud your industry and desire to set things right, remember that your pride was what got you into this problem in the first place. You have friends… trust in us to set you to rights. I am no Lady Anne Darcy, but I do think I know a thing or two."

Darcy laughed, and said, "I shall follow your instructions to the letter. Speaking of instructions, would it terribly bother your uncle if I sent one of my maids from Darcy House to take Miss Taylor's place for a while so she can properly recover?"

Jane laughed, and said, "You just want her around to protect yourself from Anne and I."

Everyone laughed along with her, and he said, "In my position, would you not do the same."

Jane just smiled, and said, "We will help you, Sir."

Everyone nodded, and then Anne added one last thought.

"Oh, and Cousin… try not to stuff it up this time."

A/N: There you go gang. The good news is I gave you 4 chapters and 14k words in one shot just because I didn't have the heart to break the scene. The bad news is you have now mostly caught up to where I'm writing so you may not get the next segment for a week or more.

Fun Fact: Although I'm posting this as the fourth of my Propriety Series, it's actually the first one I started writing. I got the idea of no response at all from the proposal about maybe a year ago. I played with a few different formats, and then wrote the first ten chapters and put it aside for a while. I have a very specific ending in mind so the rest of the chapters should be reasonably fast. Of course, I'm on the fourth completely incompatible ending so far, so anything could happen. See you in a week or so. Wade